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Autism
Autism is a disorder that is usually first diagnosed in early childhood. The main signs and symptoms of autism involve communication, social interactions and repetitive behaviors. Children with autism might have problems talking with you, or they might not look you in the eye when you talk to them. They may have to line up their pencils before they can pay attention, or they may say the same sentence again and again to calm themselves down. They may flap their arms to tell you they are happy, or they might hurt themselves to tell you they are not. Some people with autism never learn how to talk. Because people with autism can have very different features or symptoms, health care providers think of autism as a "spectrum" disorder. Asperger syndrome is a milder version of the disorder.http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/autism.html Possible Relation to Lyme Disease 1. In December 1972, R. Happy and JK Collins stated the possible relationship between melanin and autism in their article, "Melanin in the ascending reticular activating system and its possible relationship to autism."http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/4655127 2. In October 2000, T. Page stated that "The relationship between gastrointestinal abnormalities and autism spectrum disorders is also considered." in the article "Metabolic approaches to the treatment of autism spectrum disorders"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11098885 3.In May 2001,NA Halsey, SL Hyman and Conference Writing Panel presented "Measles-mumps-rubella vaccine and autistic spectrum disorder: report from the New Challenges in Childhood Immunizations",Conference convened in Oak Brook, Illinois, June 12-13, 2000. It was stated that "Concern has been raised about a possible association between measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and ASD, especially autism with regression."http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11331734 4. In April 2006, it was stated that "RESULTS: Parent-reported difficulties initiating sleep and daytime sleepiness were more common in children with AS/HFA..." in the article "Insomnia in school-age children with Asperger syndrome or high-functioning autism"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16646974 5. "In summary, there are a few specific genetic conditions that can be associated with autism. Among cases of unknown etiology, there is ample evidence for a higher genetic liability to autism in siblings of autistic probands than expected from the population prevalence. It appears likely that both parents and siblings have a higher liability for social and cognitive deficits that are milder but conceptually similar to those found in autism." stated in the article of "Etiology of autism: genetic influences"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1708492 6. It was stated that "Dr. Warren Levin, M.D. of Vienna, Virginia recently tested 10 Autistic children and 100% of the children tested positive for Lyme Disease." on March 2007 Vol.2, Issue 3 of Public Health Alert - Investigating Lyme Disease & Chronic Illness in the USA(www.publichealthalert.org). 7. Kathy Blanco of Beaverton, OR and Tami Duncan of Corona, CA founded "Lyme Induced Autism Foundation" to educate families and physicians on the link between Lyme and autism - from page 16 of the same issue of Public Health Alert. 8. Chronic infectious diseases, including tick-borne infections such as Borrelia burgdorferi may have direct effects, promote other infections and create a weakened, sensitized and immunologically vulnerable state during fetal development and infancy leading to increased vulnerability for developing autism spectrum disorders. A dysfunctional synergism with other predisposing and contributing factors may contribute to autism spectrum disorders by provoking innate and adaptive immune reactions to cause and perpetuate effects in susceptible individuals that result in inflammation, molecular mimicry, kynurenine pathway changes, increased quinolinic acid and decreased serotonin, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction and excitotoxicity that impair the development of the amygdala and other neural structures and neural networks resulting in a partial Klüver-Bucy Syndrome and other deficits resulting in autism spectrum disorders and/or exacerbating autism spectrum disorders from other causes throughout life. Support for this hypothesis includes multiple cases of mothers with Lyme disease and children with autism spectrum disorders; fetal neurological abnormalities associated with tick-borne diseases; similarities between tick-borne diseases and autism spectrum disorder regarding symptoms, pathophysiology, immune reactivity, temporal lobe pathology, and brain imaging data; positive reactivity in several studies with autistic spectrum disorder patients for Borrelia burgdorferi (22%, 26% and 20-30%) and 58% for mycoplasma; similar geographic distribution and improvement in autistic symptoms from antibiotic treatment. It is imperative to research these and all possible causes of autism spectrum disorders in order to prevent every preventable case and treat every treatable case until this disease has been eliminated from humanity.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17980971, PMID: 17980971, Med Hypotheses. 2008;70(5):967-74. Epub 2007 Nov 5., The association between tick-borne infections, Lyme borreliosis and autism spectrum disorders.Bransfield RC, Wulfman JS, Harvey WT, Usman AI. Department of Psychiatry, Riverview Medical Center, 225 State Route 35, Red Bank, NJ, United States. bransfield@comcast.net References